Distributed electronic ledgers, such as block chains, have generated interest in a variety of fields as a decentralized data storage mechanism with reliable redundant validation.
A block chain includes a distributed database comprising blocks of data records (e.g., transaction records). Each block has a timestamp and a hash of the immediately preceding block. Blocks record and confirm valid transactions. Users known as miners perform proof-of-work in the course of generating the blocks. The amount of time needed to perform the proof-of-work can introduce significant delays between the time a valid transaction is first received by one of the miners and incorporation of the transaction into a block.